Page 52 of Creep

He was still here.

He hadn’t left.

“Sorry, baby. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

I blinked, not knowing what to say to that.

I straightened and pulled away from him.

“You’re still here.”

He nodded. “Yes. I was waiting for you.”

“Oh.”

He was waiting for me. He hadn’t given up. That shouldn’t make me happy. So then, why did it feel like his waiting for me was the only thing that had gone right for me today?

“Yeah,” he said, taking a step closer to me. “Oh. Are you okay?”

I shook my head, looking off to the side. “I’m just tired. I didn’t sleep well last night.”

He didn’t say anything right away. Then he wrapped his arms around my shoulders and pulled me into his warm body. I was tense, but only for a moment. He just felt so good.

So good.

And warm.

Andsafe.

“I get it,” he said.

No, he didn’t get it. Not entirely. But that was okay. Right now, I just wanted to stay in his arms for a little while longer.

I pulled back and looked at him.

He moved slowly as if giving me time to turn away. I didn’t. I held still as he pressed a sweet, swift kiss on my lips and pulled away.

“Come home with me tonight,” he said.

“Come home with you?”

“Yeah. I’ll make sure you can get a good night's sleep.”

Despite all the shit that was going on, I felt a smile tugging at my lips. “You will, huh?”

“Yup. I’ve been told I’m pretty snuggable.”

“Snuggable?” I asked with a laugh. He grinned at me. “Is that even a word?”

“It can be.”

I shook my head. “Who even told you that?”

“My brother. We used to sleep close to each other for warmth growing up.”

That took away my smile. Why would he need to sleep close for warmth growing up unless their childhood was… shitty? Fuck, I didn’t even want to think about that for him. I was starting to care for him, and just the thought that he might have been hurt somehow, even if that had happened in the past, just shredded my heart.

“Does your brother have a name?” I asked.

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